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Released: 5/15/2012

PATCO Quiet Car Pilot Extended - Customer Survey Available Online

PATCO will extend its three-month Quiet Car pilot program until customers have had an opportunity to evaluate it online.

The Quiet Car pilot program began on March 1 and was originally scheduled to conclude on June 1. Over the past three months, thousands of passengers have used the Quiet Car, the last car of each weekday train.

“We have received positive, anecdotal customer feedback,” said PATCO General Manager John Rink. “Now we’re evaluating the program more systematically. If most of our customers approve of the Quiet Car, we’ll make it a permanent feature.”

PATCO will be collecting data from an online survey, which customers can access on the PATCO website, http://www.ridepatco.org/survey/index.html, during the next three weeks. The survey includes questions about whether or how much customers value the Quiet Car, what aspects of the program they like or dislike and what PATCO might be able to do to improve Quiet Car service.

“We want to add as much customer value to the Quiet Car as we can,” Rink said.

Since the pilot program launched, the Quiet Car has been running 24-hours-a-day, Monday through Friday only. Quiet Car passengers have been asked to limit cell phone use to silent texting and silent games, to keep conversations brief and whispered and to play music through headphones in a manner that cannot be heard by other passengers.

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The Delaware River Port Authority is a regional transportation agency that connects millions of people and businesses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The DRPA owns and operates the PATCO commuter rail line and the Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross toll bridges. The DRPA also owns the RiverLink Ferry.